Why haven't there been any more Eeveelutions?

Question

The newest Eeveelution is Sylveon from 2013, well over a decade ago. Is there any indication for why there have been none since?

Answer 1

Leaked information has revealed that a Flying-type Eeveelution was designed for Generation 7, but ended up being scrapped because it was found to be too similar to a fan-made design. It is unknown what this Pokemon would have been called or what its appearance is. I'm unfortunately not able to find the source for the original, untranslated text, but here's one English translation of a design document that mentions it:

(Full image here, it's pretty interesting)

Based on these comments, Game Freak is open to creating new Eeveelutions, but they want to be selective about only doing so if they have a special reason. Since the Eeveelutions tend to be some of the most popular Pokemon of all, there's a lot of pressure to make sure any new designs are well-presented and well-received. That popularity also means that it can be tricky to come up with a fresh concept that doesn't seem like it's ripping off an existing design.

Altogether, a new Eeveelution would likely require a lot more money and time to be dedicated to it in development compared to most other Pokemon.

Sylveon's addition helped to market Generation 6 content since it introduced and generated excitement for the new Fairy-type for many people. Since then, it seems like they haven't identified any particular opportunity that they believe would make it worth it for them to release a new Eeveelution, but they might revisit the idea if they think it will have high appeal.

Comments

Hopefully this stuff gets added to Bulbapedia eventually.

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I don't understand the "high cost" aspect of the Flying type evolution. Were they expecting to pay copyright/trademark fees? Why would it be more expensive than any other Pokemon? Unless they're just saying that Eeveelutions draw attention so it would have to be somewhat of a mascot and require a lot of promotional content/merch

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It's possible that their artists would need to spend more time designing an Eevee evolution than something like Smolive or Tadbulb.

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Most Pokémon are designed by a team of artists, submitted to other staff for review, revised according to feedback, and resubmitted until approved. This rigorous editing process can go through multiple iterations even for a relatively unremarkable Pokémon since they are pretty nitpicky in the review phase, especially to avoid bad associations like looking suggestive or too similar to an existing design. All this costs money to do (these people are salaried) and must fit in development timelines.

An Eeveelution is subject to a lot more pressure since most fans simply care much more and many already have preconceived expectations based on decades of fan speculation. If a random route Pokémon in a new region is a let down, most people won't dwell on it, but releasing an unlikable or unoriginal Eeveelution design is a move that would potentially get a lot of negative attention or at least represent major unrealized potential, and which can't really be backtracked on. Therefore, any Eeveelution designs must be scrutinized much more to ensure that it's highly appealing and has no bad associations. This represents a lot more time and effort dedicated to it by the design team, which represents a lot more money. Game Freak is saying they decided they don't feel ready to make this commitment until they can do more research.